“There was this party one night. Every time I left for a minute, I’d come back and find them whispering somewhere off to the side. The second I walked up, they’d go quiet, pretend they’d been talking about something else. But I knew better.”
“Any idea what they were talking about?”
“No, but I’d been friends with Audrey almost my whole life. I could always tell when she was hiding something from me.”
“Why do you think she was talking to Logan about whatever it was, but not to you?”
Talia sighed and pushed her hands into her jacket pockets. “Earlier that week, she saw me hanging out with Colton.”
“Colton Jagger? The new guy?”
“You know about him?”
“I heard he liked Audrey,” I said.
“He did,” she replied. “But she thought he was pushy, and she wanted nothing to do with him. I didn’t see him that way, though. Once I got to know him, I mean yeah, he’s a little immature sometimes, but it’s not a big deal. Audrey didn’t like that we were spending time together. She said it was weird because she and I were friends, and he liked her first.”
“Do you think your friendship with Colton had something to do with the way she’d been acting around you?”
“Maybe. Even if it did, though, we’d made a pact in middle school. We were friends first, no matter what. Nothing was supposed to come between us.” She paused, her voice tightening. “But I mean, maybe Colton had something to do with the way she was acting. Hard to say.”
“What about your other friends at school?” I asked. “Any problems there?”
Talia thought for a moment. “At that same party, our friend Sadie had too much to drink. One of our other friends offered to drive her home, and after they left, Audrey noticed Sadie had forgotten her purse. She texted her and said she’d hang on to it for her.”
“Seems like a kind thing for a friend to do,” I said.
“That was Audrey. Always looking out for everyone. The next day, Sadie showed up to get her bag. Later that afternoon, she started blowing up Audrey’s phone, accusing her of stealing money. Said a couple hundred dollars was missing.”
“She accused Audrey of taking it?” I asked.
“She did. Right away too. Audrey was furious, and she called me, crying. I told her I’d handle it.” Talia brushed a strand of hair off her face. “None of us knew how long Sadie’s purse had been sitting on the counter before Audrey found it. The house was packed with people that night. Anyone could have taken the money.”
“When you tried to reason with Sadie, did it work?”
“She backed off, but things weren’t the same after that. We’d been planning a girls’ trip before college—me, Audrey, Sadie, and two others—but after the argument, Audrey said she didn’t want Sadie to come with us. Said she couldn’t trust her anymore.”
“That must’ve made things awkward.”
“It did. Audrey was planning to talk to me about it that night, the night she … you know … died.”
Her voice faltered, and she went quiet.
“Was Sadie aware of how Audrey felt?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Talia said, her tone flat. “Sadie knew. Everyone in our friend group did, and then somehow it started getting around, and some of our friends started throwing shade at Sadie. They couldn’t believe she’d accuse Audrey, of all people, of stealing from her.”
“How did Audrey feel once it got around?”
“Audrey kept things to herself. She preferred peace and avoided anything that caused drama.” She paused, then added, “I’ve come out here a few times, hoping to, I don’t know, connect with Audrey somehow. I guess I thought being in the place where she was last alive might make me feel closer to her. Weird, huh?”
“Not at all. I visit some of my loved ones who’ve passed at the cemetery, and I talk to them. I find it’s a good way to get some of my feelings out when I’m having a hard time or being challenged by something I can’t figure out on a case.”
“When you do that, do you feel closer to them?”
“Most of the time, yeah. What about you?”
“Sometimes I feel her, like she’s standing right beside me, even though no one is there.”
